LEXINGTON – The Buckeye Central Bucks learned a valuable lesson on Wednesday night; the name of the game is surviving. Especially when they are playing in the Division IV sectional semifinals against Norwalk St. Paul.

The Bucks survived a close one with the Flyers by way of a 52-48 final score.

Buckeye Central broke open a seven point halftime lead and stretched it to 15 midway through the third. Max Loy connected on back-to-back 3-pointers. It was the sophomore’s first real tournament experience and his pressure packed deep balls paved way to a victory for his team.

“I don’t really know what I was doing,” Max Loy said. “I do not normally shoot those but I happened to make the first so I shot another one.”

As the Bucks were clinging to a 39-26 lead, they saw it disappear faster than they acquired it when the Flyers went on a run cutting the Bucks’ lead to 42-39. The contest would stay close from then on as the Bucks connected on pressure-packed free throws to hold on for the victory. Max Loy made two in the final minutes to keep the lead and older brother Grant Loy drained 11 of 13 for the game.

“We all hit shots at the end when we needed it but we could have played better defense,” Max Loy said.

The Bucks started off and ended slow and shot just 14 of 50 from the field for the game. Buckeye Central coach Phil Loy admits it may not be so much as an off shooting night as it was shot selection.

“It wasn’t pretty but we advanced,” coach Loy said. “It was the shot selection and not being patient. They were packing the paint and we were shooting shots a little quicker than we really wanted to. It was giving us problems all night and they made a run on us.”

The Bucks were also 20 for 32 from the free throw line, another concern for the head coach.

“Grant made 11 of those so when you take that away it is alarming,” Loy said. “But we will have a quick turnaround and learn from this.”

The Bucks were led by Grant Loy with 20 points and 11 rebounds while Max Loy scored 11. Jacob Shade had a tough shooting night but made up for it on the boards with a game high 14 rebounds.

The Bucks improve to 17-6 and will take on the winner of the night cap between Mansfield Christian and Wynford for a sectional title. That game will be played on at 8 p.m. on Friday at Lexington.

“They are both very good teams and they are going to be a tough matchup for us,” coach Loy said. “They have great players inside as well as guards who can really shoot. We are excited but have a lot of work to do by Friday.”

The Flyers saw Logan Moffit score 12 points and Derek Furlong drop 10 to lead St. Paul in scoring. They drop out of the tournament with an 8-15 record.